


Ouch

by Feelingsismykink



Series: Coach [7]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Angst, But just a little, Hurt and comfort, M/M, Oral Sex, Tears, because I’m here for smut and cuddles not pain, rhink, we are getting there friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:01:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21781861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feelingsismykink/pseuds/Feelingsismykink
Summary: The feelings bubble up, and two sweet men do their best.This was certainly the hardest chapter to write and I hope you don’t hate it! 🥰🥰🥰🥰
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Series: Coach [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558093
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	Ouch

“Hey, hey what’s happening Link? Why are you crying, beautiful?” Rhett’s voice is hoarse from shouting, but gentle like he’s not wanting to startle Link.

Link turns his head away, tries to rub his eyes and nose on his arm, as if he can hide his tears. “It’s nothing, I’m fine I promise.”

“Link, you’re not foolin me. Tell me. I want to help.”

Link was trying to pull it together. Was trying to pretend he wasn’t having these feelings, wanted to be like Rhett; strong, but between the intimacy of what they’d just done and the sweetness of Rhett’s voice he felt himself crumbling.

“I know—I know you don’t want me. I know you say we can’t do this, but I don’t want anyone else Rhett. Whenever I’m with anyone else I’m thinking of you and I’m always looking for you on campus and I always want to call you—“. Link wailed now, he felt pitiful. He hated himself for putting this on Rhett, would have preferred to have a good cry in the car on his own, not to become a snotty, blubbering mess in Rhett’s arms. He worried Rhett would reject him now that he is messy and crying, maybe they wouldn’t have sex anymore. 

Link looks up from where he was hiding his face to observe Rhett. He expects so see coldness, or disgust, or even confusion. What he doesn’t expect is for tears to be shining in Rhett’s eyes too.

“Link. I—I’m so sorry I made you feel like I don’t want you...I can’t even believe—please understand that I want you very much but—but babe this can’t work, it’s not, we don’t fit.” Link blows past the news that Rhett wants him, has any feelings for him (he’ll come back to that later) and is completely incensed that Rhett could be so wrong. 

“We DON'T FIT??” Link feels himself overreacting. He knows he does this, has always been expressive and big with his feelings but he can’t hold back now, this is too important. “We fit PERFECTLY! No one makes me feel better! No one has been there for me like you have, besides my mama maybe... You know sometimes I make myself study harder, more because I hear _ your _ voice and imagine telling  _ you _ I got a shitty grade. You push me! You make me laugh! And Rhett, no one, NO ONE makes me feel like you do.”

Link is clutching Rhett’s hands together at his chest, feels driven to keep Rhett close, to know he’s paying attention. Big tears are rolling down Rhett’s face now, since he can’t wipe them away. Rhett tries to speak now, but his words are choked back. He’s torn between laying his heart open, or lying to Link to protect him, to keep him from investing in Rhett even further. 

“Link. I’m….” he closes his eyes. Takes a deep breath his voice is very quiet now. “I imagine us in ten years. We have a house, a couple dogs, we host dinner parties, but—“ Rhett has to hold back a sob. “I’m  _ fifty two.  _ My body hurts, I’m graying, my prostate is gone to shit and maybe the high cholesterol that runs in my family means we can’t keep butter in the house...god forbid we adopt, or have a baby together. I can’t be in my 70s at their graduation—“ Link is fully ugly crying now. Has gathered Rhett into his arms. “Link listen to me, listen. I can’t take the best years of your life and then die—“ 

Link cries out, grasps Rhett’s face in his hands starts planting little kisses, cleans up the tears for him. “Rhett!! Rhett  _ listen  _ to yourself! I hear you, I promise, I know you’re scared, but listen to everything you skipped over?” We have a  _ house _ baby?!? What kind of dogs??? You’d want a  _ child  _ with me?” Link is beside himself, happy tears now, the same embarrassing grimace as his feelings overwhelm him. This is something he can work with. He thought Rhett was amusing him, enjoying the immediate pleasure and that’s where Rhett’s feelings ended but this—Rhett has been having the same thoughts Link had been trying to resist. 

“Rhett! Please, PLEASE let me give you the best years of my life, I want to live all of them with you, that sounds like a better life than I could ever imagine before you!” Both men are sitting up now, still naked in the bed. “I want—I would  _ love  _ to take care of you Rhett, cook you cholesterol free food and rub your bones when you’re sore...I would feel  _ so lucky _ to get to do that, if I could.”

Link is holding Rhett’s face so he can keep Rhett’s eyes close “I appreciate that you are...looking out for me.” He paused and kissed Rhett deeply “but I want...I want to try. If you want to try. Maybe I chew too loud and you’re a know it all and we break up in six months. Maybe we have 1 good year and 6 terrible months and then we split. But I  _ can’t— _ I won’t avoid this, I won’t spend the rest of my life regretting missing out on something that could be really good.”

Link has crawled into Rhett’s lap now. He whispers into Rhett’s neck “I promise I know you’re an old man, but I love your wisdom and your laugh lines and those tiny little grays in your beard.” Rhett sighs, holds on to Link and rocks them both. “You think you know what you’re signing up for, but you don’t know how time flies, how things change, Link”

“Well  _ you _ don’t know everything either, Coach. But let’s—“he chuckles to himself at the pun he’s about to make “let’s be a team, and figure it out together. We don’t have to move in together tomorrow, let’s just start...let’s start small. We’ll just— we’ll see each other every week, is that okay?”

Rhett allows himself to imagine this. To imagine looking forward to seeing Link, to get to know him, maybe even take him out on a date. He lifts Link’s chin and kisses him, slow and with purpose, luxuriating in his lips, his breath. 

“Okay. Okay Link that sounds really...really good.”

Rhett allows his anxiety a few seconds to mumble his worries in his own brain

_ What about Sue when will you tell her you’re fucking her baby boy?!?  _

_ What about your job, what if they find out, what if you have to hide for a year and a half before Link graduates? _

Then Rhett silences that voice with more kisses. Has a sudden thought.

“Uhhhhhh hey Link? Do you still have the condom on?” Link snorts with laughter “no, no I don’t but it’s somewhere in the bed, and I’m sticky as heck!” The two cackle, and Rhett nudges Link up and into the bathroom to shower. 

Under the warm water, in the steam the two kiss and take turns washing each other, washing their hair. Rhett can’t resist taking Link’s mostly hard cock in his hand, stroking him firmly. Link lets his head fall back and enjoys the pleasure. He cums with a cry, his mouth on Rhett’s, hand in Rhett’s wet curls. After a minute, Link sinks to his knees, takes Rhett into his mouth and brings him to a slow and delicious orgasm. 

Rhett asks Link to stay, but Link needs to go home, needs to be up early to study for his midterm. 

————————-

Link is positively giddy. He’s practically skipping around campus. He got an absolutely acceptable score on his Physics midterm, the weather is getting better and now, now he sees a future with Rhett. Several friends have nudged or elbowed him, asking what’s changed, why’s he look so dopey all the time. His roommate Gregg at one point caught Link sitting with a deeply soggy bowl of cereal, staring at the wall yesterday.

“Neal! What’s that dumbass grin on your face, dude?” He’s laughing in a good natured way, sits down and asks “what’s his name?”

Link blushes, gets a little incensed at Gregg’s presumption, but is chuckling through his monologue “what the heck, Gregg? Why’s it gotta be a guy? I can’t just be  _ killin it  _ at life and bein’ happy? You know professor Hubert gave me all that good feedback, and she hates everybody! Maybe I’m just marveling in my own glory?!” 

Gregg snorts and continues his way through the house “whatever man, alls I know is last time I had a look like that it was over pussy.” Link laughs loud “COME ON Gregg!” And moves to empty his now disgusting bowl of frosted mini wheats into the trash.

Tomorrow night is date night. He and Rhett have been texting a little, Rhett seems a little tense, but with the team winning more steadily this season, Link assumes there’s more pressure, and he’s still new. Link loves to send Rhett happy little pictures, or compliments when he’s thinking of him throughout the day. 

Link can’t get the images out of his head that Rhett described, their house, their dogs,  _ dinner parties _ . Link knows he’s getting way ahead of himself, tries to remember to take things one step at a time, but it’s mostly a losing battle.

Rhett is going to cook for them tomorrow. Link can’t wait, they’ve spent most of their time together in bed, and Link’s looking forward to more of that as well, but his heart thrills at the possibility of more besides.

Link brings over some fancy looking bottles of beer to Rhett’s place, they’re nicer than what’s stocked in his fridge, Link feels like he wants to spoil Rhett a little bit. Rhett smiles when he opens the door, but it’s a little tighter than usual. He kisses Link, but it’s more of a smooch than the deep, sensual kisses Link is used to. Rhett offers apologies as he has to run back to the kitchen, something’s on the stove and he doesn’t want it to burn.

Link follows him into the kitchen, is greeted by delicious smells and quite a bit of chaos. “Oh wow, Rhett, you know I’m used to peanut butter and jelly or hamburger helper for dinner, right?!” Link laughs as he puts the beers in the fridge, surveys the area, sees where he can help. He tries for the sink, he’s good at cleanup and dish washing, but Rhett hustles him out of the way, needs the sink to dump some water out and grab a spoon from the drying rack. Link moves over to some vegetables on a cutting board, there are some half chopped abandoned salad fixins. Link can definitely do that. 

He can hear Rhett muttering and moving things behind him. He’s less jovial than Link’s used to, “so, Rhett, how was your day?” Rhett is quick with the response “UGH! I can’t even—you know Johnson? On the team? He’s one of our best starters, well we got notice from academics that his grades are slippin’, he won’t be allowed to play if he can’t get his shit together—“ Link listens and smiles as Rhett rants about cocky, privileged kids and the pervasiveness of alcohol and the ass-backwards merit system in schools like this. Link smiles at Rhett’s passion and that’s probably why he got sloppy with the knife on the last carrot. “DAMN!” Link hisses and watches as the cut goes from white to red and blood collects and starts dripping down his finger. Rhett heard Link’s curse and was already halfway across the kitchen when Link starts to feel woozy, sees the tunnel vision that means he’s on his way to fainting. Mumbling an “oh no” is the best Link can do.

Link opens his eyes again and Rhett is all he can see, backlit, his hair creating a beautiful golden halo. Link’s smile is wide and goofy, he hasn’t connected the pulse pounding in his finger with his being on the ground. Rhett’s eyes are bugged out, he’s holding Link’s injured hand and Link begins understanding he’s talking “ _ I  _ was cooking, you didn’t have to chop vegetables I was making it for you and now you hurt yourself I hope you don’t need stitches—“

Link sits up, albeit slowly and turns to Rhett, puts a hand on Rhett’s face to calm him, get him to focus on Link. “Hey. Rhett, you’re sufferin’ tonight, what’s happening?” Links voice is low and calm, like the voice his mama uses when he would panic or hurt himself. Link is up on his knees so he can press Rhett’s head to his chest, hold him a little with one arm and hush him. 

When Rhett speaks, his voice is thick “I’m worried Link, I’m worried about what’s gonna happen to  _ us _ . What if the University finds out, is it better to hide it? What if I lose you, what if you get a job somewhere else? I’ve been alone  _ so long _ now I got somethin to lose…”

Link is rocking them now, but it hurts his knees, and he really does need a bandaid. “Oh Rhett, sweetheart, that’s too many worries. Big worries, too many for you all at once.” He lets Rhett cry, but is becoming increasingly aware of the bubbling pots on the stove, and the rag he is clutching in his hand as Rhett quiets down. Link peppers sweet little kisses on his face and says “can we get up now babe?” Rhett sniffles, sits back and gets up, turns to help Link do the same. He notices the stove, quickly goes to stir and turn things down or off. Without speaking he rushes out of the room and returns with a first aid kit. Link watches Rhett adoringly as Rhett uses disinfectant spray, then wraps a bandaid on Link’s finger, kisses it for good measure.

Rhett gets up to plate the food, but he still seems deflated, dejected. Link gets up, stands behind Rhett and puts his arms around him, squeezes him tight. “I’m sorry Link, I’m sorry this was supposed to be a good night and I’ve ruined it.” “You ain’t ruined nothin Rhett. But you’re not havin a good time, and I’d like to change that. Can I try, gorgeous?” Link leaves little kisses on Rhett’s shoulder blades, begins using one hand to rub on his tummy through his sweater. Link feels Rhett relax a little into his arms, leans back into Link. “That’s right Coach, can I make you feel good and then we can eat?”

Rhett laughs a little “you don’t hafta—“ but that’s not a ‘no’, so Link pulls Rhett over to where the carpeting starts in his living room, guiding him by the hand and then kneels in front of him. Rhett starts protesting again, but Link quiets him, starts working on unbuckling his pants. “Shh, my big man. You need to  _ relax _ baby, gotta let that brain slow down...I can’t take away all your worries but I can make you forget them for bit can’t I?”

Rhett moans and lets his head fall back against the door jam as Link takes a staggering portion of Rhett’s thick cock into his mouth. Link feels his face flush, feel his chest swell with pride as Rhett’s voice goes from meek and sad to powerful and passionate. Link grasps Rhett by the thighs and works his mouth fast, wet and sloppy as Rhett lets out grunts and “oh!”s and before too long, is cumming down Link’s throat. 

Link stands up, wiping his mouth and brushing his hair back and smiles as Rhett tries to collect himself, he’s leaned back against the door frame, both hands up above his head holding on, his eyes are still a little crossed when Link gets on his tip toes and smooches Rhett on the lips and says “Mmmm I’m hungry, smells good!” And returns to the kitchen to eat.

**Author's Note:**

> Always always and forever thanks and hugs to Sohox and Captainsourwolf for encouraging me to write. They have created a monster and I’m having so much fun.


End file.
